The construction of Vista Tower is well underway, but nowhere near its final height of 1,198 feet. When will be completed in 2020, it will become the third-tallest tower in Chicago. A collaboration between Studio Gang, bKL Architecture and Magellan Development, it is primarily comprised of three undulating green glass towers sited in a stair step arrangement, each tower successively taller from east to west. Although it's still early, the elevating wavy design of the towers is evident and striking.

I took some photos of the site last summer when only the foundation was in place. I will continue periodically documenting the building as it progresses. In a few years, I think it will be valuable to have a solid set of architectural photographs tracking the progress of what will undoubtedly be an iconic piece of the Chicago skyline.

The two triangular commercial buildings at Clark and Roscoe are also gone. The removal of the building on the northeast side of that intersection revealed a large ghost ad for "Banke's Coffee" as well as a poster advertising Riverview amusement park (the latter is not pictured here).

I will be documenting the remainder of the demolition work as well as the construction of the flyover over the next few years, so stay tuned for more as this progresses.

Lafayette Park, located just southwest of downtown, is the oldest park in the city of St. Louis. It is square in shape, much like other town squares and urban parks from the early 19th century. The surrounding neighborhood is called Lafayette Square -- development began in the 1850s, but most of what is there today was built in the aftermath of a devastating 1896 tornado.

The neighborhoods south of downtown from Lafayette Square to Soulard and Benton Park are excellent examples of the Victorian-era American city, and are easily some of the most picturesque places in the St. Louis metropolitan area. On my last visit, I photographed most every building that faces Lafayette Park with the exception of two or three buildings on the southern end.

There was one day of nice(ish) weather last week which gave me the opportunity to get started on an idea I've been planning for the last few months. Beginning now as winter winds down and going through to the fall, I'm going to make an attempt to do what I'm calling "City Surveys." I will select a single street, or a bounded area (like a square mile) that I think is interesting, and photograph that area in detail. Although I intend to expand this outside of Chicago as much as possible, it will skew pretty heavily since I do live here, after all. Also, don't expect long, annotated essays in the vein of a certain earlier project of mine. KISS -- Keep It Simple, Serhii. Hopefully it'll yield some good stuff.

For the first installment, I decided to take a look at Milwaukee Avenue, a major commercial arterial, at the crossover between the Logan Square and Avondale neighborhoods. Over the last fifteen or so years, there has been a wave of gentrification emanating from River West, pushing northwest along Milwaukee Avenue, subsuming Noble Square, Wicker Park, Bucktown, and most recently, Logan Square. New development and the commercial turnover that comes with it, seems to fizzle out just after Spaulding Avenue. I began there, attempting to document every building until Pulaski Road. I may have missed a few, and the light was unfavorable on the south/west side of the street, but this should provide a decent overview of what this stretch of road looked like before the inevitable deluge of gastropubs, boutiques, and various other overpriceries. Viva Polonia!